Wonka

Proving that his work on the one two punch that was Paddington and then it's universally praised sequel was not per chance, British director Paul King has managed to bring the same amount of energy, charm, heart and smarts he delivered with his marmalade loving bear to this high profile Willy Wonka prequel that should become the crowd pleasing hit of this years festive/holiday period.

Utilising his comedy background and career making work on the cult UK TV series The Mighty Boosh (fans of which will be pleased to see a key role for Rich Fulcher here), King ensures that his musical infused adventure that follows Timothée Chalamet's young Willy Wonka during his first attempts to conquer the chocolate world with his magical inventions and colorful showmanship, is a film that constantly is on the move and one that ensures it's filled to the brim with wonder, whimsy and wackiness that should find it appealing to a wide ranging age-group and audience.

It's not as though the world was exactly crying out to find out more about the beloved character many of us fell in love with either in Roald Dahl's original book or the Gene Wilder starring classic film from 1971 but King and his screenwriting partner Simon Farnaby instantly make us engaged and interested in this tale that has a wide ranging reach and works in a number of facets without ever losing momentum.

Rarely pausing for breath between its colourful character interactions, enjoyable song and dance numbers and more poignant aspects that make Wonka more than just all sugar and no substance, King's enjoyable ride harbours a clear labour of love at its core that gels perfectly with its more old-school film-making vibe and delivery that once more acts as an example that Hollywood's incessant nature to try and be "hip" and boundary pushing isn't always needed to find a winning formula.

Within King's winning Wonka formula he has managed to create and gift a number of memorably fun performances from his talented cast and while Chalamet gives it his best shot in easily his most challenging performance yet, his role as Willy Wonka doesn't always seem ideally suited to his acting sensibilities, it's in the supporting cast that Wonka finds its comedic gold.

From Olivia Colman's yellow-toothed nasty Mrs. Scrubbit, Tom Davis's wild-haired Bleacher, Keegan-Michael Key's sweet-toothed police chief and Hugh Grant's (bizarrely controversial) scene-stealing Oompa-Loompa, Wonka's cast of newbies and industry vets alike all have a blast playing their parts here and Wonka's overall feeling and end result seems to be the product of a film that was a lot of fun to make and bring to life.

There may not be any groundbreaking new messages taking place here and I don't suspect Wonka will ever be regarded as the type of family friendly all-time classic as its original source material or first film iteration are seen as but it would take a hard-hearted and Scrubbit like viewer to not find enjoyment from such an entertaining and imaginative new take on one of the worlds most well-known properties.

Final Say -

Another resounding success for director Paul King, who has here further established his reputation as the leader of family friendly cinematic adventures, Wonka is a charming and enjoyable big screen ride that deserves to be this years most resounding holiday hit.

4 unsolved murders out of 5.

Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)

How are the graphics for the new movie worse than the old movie ?

It literally makes no sense why the graphics are so bad You could of made the flying chocolate look more real

Too much singing And not enough catchy songs They should of spent more time on developing this and not having unneeded songs

I liked the oompa loompa I'm not sure why everyone was giving him a hard time

The ending was very endearing But, it's not what I wanted Focus on wonka Not noodles family situation

I wanted to give this a higher score The graphics ruined it for me There was definitely some funny parts The movie was entertaining Just the execution wasn't there.

This movie seemed to have it all. All of the actors played parts well and Timothee Chalamet is certainly fun to watch. The bits with the Oompah Loompa, played by Hugh Grant, should have been expanded. The sets, costumes and special effects were amazing. The music was from the original Wonka movie so that was nice. The story was almost completely new which I hoped to be nice too. Not so much. The spark I was looking for in the new story was missing for me, even though the actors and director were clearly giving it their best shot at it. I think the writing was the culprit. I was a bit bored in parts. If the writers were looking to get laughs, I don't recall breaking a smile more than once or twice and I think it was something that Rowan Atkinson was doing as the Priest. I did not hear anyone laugh in the theater the whole time. Most of the jokes I think we were supposed to laugh at were pretty lame. I will not be recommending this movie to any adult or child I know. I don't see it appealing to any age unless they are big fans of someone appearing in the film.

Listen, I liked this movie. It was good, I just wished it gave me more. Felt like there was some underutilizing of potential, so it felt s little hollow for me.

It didn't tug on my heart strings or emotions ever, but it made it chuckle and Timothee was great as Wonka. A lot of unecessary singing. I can fully get into a good musical if the songs are good and properly placed and spread out, but I can't stand it when they sing songs just to sing, when they could just... talk. Some of the songs the movie weren't really catchy or even good, and felt pointless.

Positives: great casting, funny, beautiful sets and costumes. Could watch it at home just to watch a cozy movie (if you're into musicals), but not worth seeing in the theaters like I did.

Memories of Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka performance come to mind and whereas his 1971 version was magical and witty, this 2023 version of Wonka is a bit underwhelming to be honest...

The bad: the songs just dont excite me. They just dont. They are not terrible, but quite average. The songs in the 1971 version of Willy Wonka were superb. I can still remember them to this very day!

More bad: there is a lack of magic and surprise. The story just doesnt take me on a trip like the original did. Sorry, that I keep comparing this one to the original. Perhaps I shouldnt?

Not any good then? This movie will surely please the young kids who ofcourse are the target audience for this movie. It's a nice fantasy musical movie for sure, with a bunch of TERRIFIC English actors, who lift this movie up. Timothee Chalamet did an allright job as well.

Nothing to really dislike about it, but nothing to get really excited about it either unfortunately, for me as a grownup fan of the original Willy Wonka with Gene Wilder.